The upgrade notification is only displayed in the operating system's system tray area if certain updates are installed on the computer.

While that is the only requirement, the functionality seems broken on some systems as the icon would not display on them even if all prerequisites are met.

This was the case for one of my Windows 7 Professional test systems for instance. I double-checked to make sure all updates were installed but the icon would not show up no matter what I tried.

Why reserve?

Since Windows 10 is provided as a free upgrade, there is only one reason to reserve the upgrade using the "Get Windows 10" notification: the pre-loading of the installation files.

If you want to upgrade to Windows 10 the day it is released by Microsoft, you will benefit from pre-loading installation files as servers may overload on the day due to users rushing to upgrade to the new free operating system.

If you can wait, a day, week or months, then there is no reason to reserve Windows 10.

Fixing the display issue

Several methods have been published in the last couple of days that supposedly fix the issue so that the Windows 10 upgrade reservation offer is displayed on PCs running Windows 7 or Windows 8.

First thing you may want to do is make sure that all necessary updates are installed on the system. Once you have done that, you may want to run one method after the other to see if the issue is fixed.

While you can do so manually, you may instead run a small batch script on Windows that does so semi-automatically.

The script is available on Dropbox and all you have to do is download it to your system, extract the archive and run the file win10fix_full.bat afterwards with elevated rights. You do that by right-clicking on it and selecting the "run as administrator" option.

Update: If you receive a 500 error on Dropbox, use the following local download link instead: win10fix_full.zip

Note: Cautious users may want to check the code in a text editor before they run the script. There they will find listed the commands used by the batch file that determine whether all required updates are installed and run commands that attempt to fix the missing icon issue.

First thing you do is tap on (1) which runs an update status check. This checks if all required updates are installed on the system.

If that is the case, try methods (2), (3) and then (4) one after the other to display the upgrade icon in the system tray area.

The batch script explains each method on run so that you know what it supposedly does. The second method (Quick Method #2) fixed the issue on the Windows 7 PC that I experienced it on (it launches the GWX task and refreshes the GWX config afterwards.

Summary

Article Name

How to display the Windows 10 upgrade icon if it is not visible

Description

Find out how to display the Windows 10 upgrade reservation offer on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 systems if the icon is not displayed automatically.

Author

Martin Brinkmann

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About Martin Brinkmann

Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News Back in 2005. He is passionate about all things tech and knows the Internet and computers like the back of his hand.You can follow Martin on Facebook, Twitter or Google+

Responses to How to display the Windows 10 upgrade icon if it is not visible

I didn't install Windows Updates that are necessary to be able to upgrade to Windows 10. And I'm happy that I did it. Because Windows 10 Home won't let me allow to turn off automatic updates. Microsoft, I'm a home user but not as stupid as you think. I know how to set windows updates and it's because of you. Because you release updates that are not always 100% working. ;)

I was stupid enough to allow automatic updates on my perfectly good Windows 8.1 system. Fortunately I was able to un-install it by using restore to an earlier date. Windows 10 ushered in a " Fatal Error" due to access violation, followed by addresses parameters, flags threads, and other gibberish that a non Microsoft employee cannot grasp. The last time I saw this was on Windows 98. It was known as "the Blue Screen of Death."

Hi Martin, and thanks for another valuable article. So, did you install Windows 7 recently on the test system? I did a new installation of Windows 7 64 bit a cupple of days ago but I do not see Update KB3035583 in optional updates. Maybe Microsoft disabled the update for Windows 7 now? I also did a new install of Windows 8.1 for a friend and we see the Update KB3035583 and also the icon there.

hi martin i need help my system was activated i bought it from the microsoft website and then the pc restarted and now it is not activated and i need a code to activate it and the company do not want to send me another code,please help me find me on face book at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008644027103 please send me a code if you can or tell them send me one i have windows 8.1 pro and now i need to activate my pc to reserve windows 10 i already did it but my windows deactivate

Microsoft really botched this up. There is a 115 page (the last time I checked) forum post of people having issues with this.

I did a clean install of Windows 7 and even though it told me repeatedly I had no updates left the icon would not appear. Ran the script and I was missing an update. Had to go and download it and install it manually and then run the script again. Ran through every method and it still wont show up.

I have a Windows 8.1 machine that it wont show up on as well, but I also have 2 machines it showed up on with no problems.

Why don't you all just use the 32 or 64-bit Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to upgrade or burn a DVD or create a USB installer or save the ISO? Why all this heartburn over a stupid icon and all this 'reservation' nonsense? Seriously folks, stop complaining and be smarter about this.

Typical I spend 3 days trying various things before finding this script and THEN you publish it here. But seriously this was the only thing that worked for me, my Windows 7 PC just would not show the invitation icon. I tried repairing updates, installing / uninstalling various updates, registry changes and other batch files / commands. NOTHING WORKED. I was almost at the point of assuming I must have a pirate copy, even though it had passed all the Microsoft test. On my Windows 7 laptop the invitation just popped up, all by itself, days ago.

One question - I updated my Windows 8.1 laptop, I hate it, to Windows 10 preview as soon as I could. But no invitation on that system or anything? Please don't tell me I will have to reinstall Windows 8.1 and do all the updates before I can "upgrade" back to Windows 10. Come to think about it - do I still have Windows 8.1 on the laptop? HELP!

No reason to rush the Windows 10 installation, and, as others mention from previous experience, installing Windows 10 on Launch Day would be somewhat ludicrous since experience indicates the initial rollout will have numerous bugs, complaints, maybe compliments, etc. One full year--I think I can wait.

Nevertheless, I ran the program as provided on a Windows 8.1 machine that wasn't showing the flag even though the update was installed. The program ran perfectly, and at choice 3 the Windows Flag appeared in the tray. Went ahead and went through the process of reserving and checking for compatibility; then, I uninstalled the update and hid the update so I could eliminate the Flag. Yes, somewhat pointless, but, again, the program works as expected. Maybe other issues are preventing other users from having a positive experience.

I do find it odd that Microsoft relies on unpaid 3rd party users to fix their problems, but the same thing will be happening with Windows 10 that happened with Windows 8. Users and third party software makers will provide what Microsoft couldn't achieve.

LOL! Microsoft has been relying on unpaid 3rd party users to fix their problems extensively from day 1. Maintenance before Google was a nightmare. Microsoft cares about enterprise users and enterprise users only who pay stiff charge to get Microsoft to fix their problems for them. The rest of us have always been almost completely on our own.

I just wanted to thank you for making this - it worked as soon as I tried #2. Prior to finding this, I spent hours trying everything other websites were suggesting but your method worked in an instant.

Thanks you for providing the information that I could not even find on the Windows Insider Program website.

I had done a fresh install of 8.1 Pro and Win 7 Pro and the icons that were previously there went missing and would not come back. The option #1 worked for me. The 'Check you PC' option is broken but ran cleanly before my installation so I really have no concerns.

Thank a lot man. My problem was probably my hardisk because it went dead last week. After the necessary repairs, my laptop was back to a whole new windows. I did all the updates but still no icon. Method 1 from the script didn't do much since I already updated my windows 8.1. Method 2 was surprisingly fast and now I have the icon back. Thanks!

The bat file say's that i already had the update kb3035583 installed but it didn't. i went through pc settings->update recovery->view details under recommended tab i found the update and i installed the update, between a minute i got the windows 10 icon.

Option number three worked on a genuine windows 7 computer running dual windows 7 and windows 8.1 pro, the 8.1 pro correctly activated windows 10 update icon etc etc but the windows 7 refused to do so, probably because i use it a lot less and leave weeks between updates. all updates were installed and everything else runs very well, but both will eventually get windows 10 cannot decide which i will update first but may opt for the windows 7 as my 8.1 pro is on a ssd and is extremely stable and faster than any apple product with a 5 to 8 second start up and 7 to 10 second shut down

I updated my win 8.1 64 bit and made the registered for upgrade. After that I had to do a system recovery to factory settings and did windows update (including kb3035583). Now I dont get a win 10 icon. How do I check if I have the upgrade reserved?

Odd. My compy (win 8.1) was fully updated and all but for whatever reason it wasn't displaying at all. Using the fix, it even confirmed that the updates were installed. Atleast option 2 was able to fix the problem. Thank you for sharing it.

Option 3 worked for my every day desktop computer. The "get windows 10" icon didn't show up because I had deactivated several scheduled default tasks. One of them was the "Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser".

I have two other computers running Windows 7 Pro which I set up some days ago - without activation. The "get windows 10" icon didn't show up on them either, until I activated Windows 7 :-)

option 2 (#1) worked for me but after getting the icon whenever i click it , it just says please wait and does not show anything else , and this goes on for infinity. even though i right clicked the icon and clicked the reserve my copy option and now it says check update status but then again why does it not load? THANKS IN ADVANCE.

Thanks! worked as designed. Step 2 was all it took. I spend the morning installing, uninstalling, installing, uninstalling updates and nothing. This did it within seconds of executing step 2.

Wohoo

By the way, why did I have to do this??? Microsoft, get it together. I had a clean install of 8.1 on this laptop close to a month ago and had all my updates installed. Yikes, what an ordeal to get Win 10. "Normal" users will never be able to get Win 10.

1. Open the Control Panel, choose Administrative Tools, and then fire up the Task Scheduler. 2. Expand Task Scheduler Library, then Microsoft, then Windows, and finally scroll down to expand Setup. 3. Click the folder GWXTriggers and on the far right hit Run.

Again, this will only work if you’re running a legitimate copy of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, have KB3035583 installed, and have all the latest updates.

Thank you! Have had nothing but problems with 8.1 on my machine, and so want to get away from it but wouldn't you know that even with the correct updates installed, no icon in my system tray. Par for the course with my experience of 8.1 but this worked a charm. You're a star!

1. Open the Control Panel, choose Administrative Tools, and then fire up the Task Scheduler. 2. Expand Task Scheduler Library, then Microsoft, then Windows, and finally scroll down to expand Setup. 3. Click the folder GWXTriggers and on the far right hit Run.

Again, this will only work if you’re running a legitimate copy of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1, have KB3035583 installed, and have all the latest updates.

There is a driver which I am unable to download as, when I do the screen just goes black. I have had to re-install the operating sytem to get the computer running again. I don't know much about it but this is what I got when I copied it from the list in windows update.

Unfortunately, trying to install Windows 10, Windows Update is set to automatically install, including drivers and, from what I can gather, anything else it chooses. There is no way to turn it off, apparently.

This means that I am unable to install Windows 10 as it downloads the driver that causes the problem. I have tried twicw to install it with the same, black screen, result.

Does anyone else have this kind of problem and is there anything I can do about it?

I am the administrator of 14 PC's of which 2 of them did not get the icon. On the one PC installing the 2 KB files and running this fix worked. The second PC was a nightmare and took 3 days to find and fix the problem.

Open Administrative tools > Services > Event viewer. If you get the following error: ERROR_WMI_INSTANCE_NOT_FOUND 4201 The instance name passed was not recognized as valid by a WMI data provider

Download unlocker: http://filehippo.com/download_unlocker/ After installing go to C:WindowsSystem32LogFilesWMI, right-click on "RtBackup", select "Unlocker", select "Rename" from drop-down list, type e.g. "RtBackup.bak" and click "OK" twice. If Unlocker did not want to open then go to C:Program FilesUnlockerUnlocker.exe and set it as "Run as administrator" on "Compatibility".

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About Ghacks

Ghacks is a technology news blog that was founded in 2005 by Martin Brinkmann. It has since then become one of the most popular tech news sites on the Internet with five authors and regular contributions from freelance writers.